“Wall Street’s top activist investors are raising lots of cash and gearing up for battle over the next year…. The group see more opportunity to disrupt the consumer discretionary sector, which includes retailers, than in any other industry.”

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to weed out black money through a ban on high-value currency notes haven’t yielded the desired results.” The Government estimated approximately one-third of the 15.4 trillion rupees in circulation on Nov. 8, 2016 “wouldn’t be returned to banks because it was stashed illegally to avoid tax.” In reality, 99.3% of the invalidated banknotes were returned. Only “107 billion rupees hasn’t yet been received by the Reserve Bank of India after the cash ban.”

Following the close of the Bayer Monsanto merger, a “toxic corporate name” will be retired. Soon after the $60 billion all-cash deal closes on Wednesday, the Monsanto name will be retired. Bayer “wanted the pesticide producer but seemingly not all the associated baggage that comes with the name.” The decision shows “how anti-Monsanto demonstrations over the years have succeeded in molding the public’s view of the company.”

Now nearing $500 billion a year, “stock buybacks are big and controversial.” Some claim buybacks are “killing the American economy…. Fine companies, the idea runs, sacrifice their future to satisfy cash-hungry hedge funds.” This is overblown. “Buybacks do not destroy the cash used. The cash goes to stockholders—often pension funds or mutual funds—that reinvest it, presumably in younger firms that are cash-starved and hungry to expand.”

“As the global recession and financial crisis recede in the rearview mirror, companies have been acting more proactively in using their balance sheets in ways that enhance shareholder value. But we think they can do more…. By mid-2013, U.S. companies were sitting on cash that was equivalent to about 11 percent of their total assets, a three-decade high and earning almost nothing.” Fortunately, there are signs of change. Companies “have become more receptive to using debt to buy back shares, increase dividends and make acquisitions.”

Even as profits have tumbled, balance sheets have soared as companies across the globe put more cash aside. “The financial crisis has made firms more skittish about relying on banks or securities markets for funds.” At least in Japan, this “urge to save may be lessening. Japanese firms, with few growth prospects at home, have been making foreign deals. Marc Zenner of JPMorgan Chase notes that in the past 18 months firms that announce acquisitions have been rewarded with higher share prices.”

As a group, S&P companies have gained efficiency while rebounding to pre-recession levels. “S&P 500 companies have become more efficient—and more productive. In 2007, the companies generated an average of $378,000 in revenue for every employee on their payrolls. Last year, that figure rose to $420,000.” These same companies have also increased capital expenditures, reduced debt and increased cash on hand.

As a group, S&P companies have gained efficiency while rebounding to pre-recession levels. “S&P 500 companies have become more efficient—and more productive. In 2007, the companies generated an average of $378,000 in revenue for every employee on their payrolls. Last year, that figure rose to $420,000.” These same companies have also increased capital expenditures, reduced debt and increased cash on hand.

Major U.S. companies are poised to increase spending during 2011. At the 419 nonfinancial companies in the S&P 500, cash increased by nearly 50% over pre-recession levels three years prior. Performance has also improved. “Total U.S. corporate profits in 2010′s third quarter rose 26% from a year earlier to $1.64 trillion, the highest in four years.” As a result, major companies are planning to increase spending on plants, technology, R&D and hiring. Corning, Cummins, GE, Honeywell and 3M were among the many examples cited by the Journal.

The 500 largest nonfinancial companies in America have amassed cash totaling $1.8 trillion on their balance sheets. This is the highest amount (normalized or otherwise) in nearly half a century. Fareed Zakaria, Editor of Newsweek, says the key to getting the U.S. economy rolling again is getting companies to start spending this money on investments, such as plants, in the real economy.